20 October 2015

Poppies

Plodding along this autumnal track where South Yorkshire meets West Yorkshire. But where is it leading me?
To the poppies. The poppies. The same ceramic poppies that flooded out of The Tower of London last year. One poppy for every British and British Commonwealth soldier who lost his life in World War One. A sample of those poppies have come north to The Yorkshire Sculpture Park, like a wave flooding from one of the estate's old bridges. The position of the sun was a little awkward for photography but I tried my best:-
Through the trees, my camera at ground level and the wave of poppies appearing to flood over the bridge. In fact the installation is called "Wave":-
On the bridge I spotted two familiar figures - old friends Irene and John. She was a little reluctant to have her picture taken:-
 View to Bretton Hall from the bridge:-
To the side of the bridge I spotted a card with red roses on it. It was in remembrance of a young Yorkshire soldier who gave his life at Ypres on October 5th 1915. He was twenty two years old:-
I dedicate this post to Lance Corporal James Sykes for visitors to "Wave" must remind themselves that this isn't just another "sculpture" or art installation. Each poppy speaks of a life cut short in a sea of mud when the air was filled with choking gas and the endless booming and screaming of bombs, when the hapless leaders of Europe had led their people into a ghoulish nightmare, the like of which had never been seen before.

24 comments:

  1. That wave of red poppies is very effective -- a very moving art installation. Great photos.

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    1. Thanks for calling by Jo(e) and for leaving an encouraging comment.

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  2. Look better here than they did at the Tower.

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    1. But less of them Adrian. Most were sold off.

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  3. Those are beautiful photos, Mr Pudding, but red poppies make me sad. Like you, I think of all those individual lives cut short, and the horror of it all.

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    1. There was a song a long time ago... "Where Have all the Flowers Gone?" It was by Pete Seeger and the refrain was:-
      Oh, when will they ever learn?
      Oh, when will they ever learn?

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  4. WW I started over 100 years ago so it's more important than ever to keep up the memory of the horrible losses.

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    1. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them...

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  5. Beautiful...heart-wrenching...thought-provoking. I have so much I want to say...but I won't the poppies and your wonderful photos of them speak volumes...they say it for me....

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    1. Thank you Lee. Around 60,500 Australians gave their lives in World War One. Nobody knows the exact figure but it was more than double the number who were killed in World War Two.

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    2. Yes, I know, Yorkie. Our Anzac Day commemorated on 25th April every year is highly revered and respected by Aussies. To me it is a very emotive day of remembrance and gratitude. Anzac Day has always and will always mean so very much to me...more than I can describe here.

      The spirit of the Anzac now goes beyond that fateful landing on the beach at Gallipoli, 1915 and the battles that ensued there and elsewhere, including those at Fromelles and Villers Bretonneux. We will never forget those who lost their lives or those were injured; nor will our future generations.

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  6. And the screaming of dying men whose lives were cut short in that sea of mud.

    The poppies are beautiful and a wonderful tribute to that terrible loss of life.

    Thank you for bringing this post to our screens.

    Ms Soup

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    1. It is my pleasure and my honour to do so Alphie.

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  7. So glad you got to see the poppy installation and thank you for sharing your photos. They are beautiful. I especially like the one of th poppies in the water.

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    1. Your reminder a couple of weeks back probably boosted my motivation to go there Carol.

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  8. This instillation is just so beautiful and so meaningful that no words can express what the artist has done or what your camera has shown us. It evokes memories and sadness and thought and pain and remembrance. And an unspoken wish in my heart for "never again."

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    1. I am glad that your reaction to it was above the visual.

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  9. Lovely. If only humans would learn from history instead of just repeating it....what a sad and sorry species we are sometimes. How long is the installation there for? I have always wanted to visit the sculpture park and missed seeing the poppies in London so maybe I could drive up sometime..

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    1. Libby - the poppies are there till early January but there's plenty of other objects/installations to see. Good weather always helps. Don't come north if the day you have earmarked has an inclement weather forecast attached to it.

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  10. Poppies are amongst my favourite flowers, but I can never look at them without remembering. Thank you for these beautiful photos.

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  11. I love those poppies. My Grandfather was a runner between the trenches taking messages back and forth. A very dangerous occupation I imagine ! He always had red poppies in his garden. They came up every year . I've tried but I can't seem to grow them but times have changed and it never seems to rain here any more so the ground is rock hard.
    It must have been lovely to see the wave and the original display at the Tower.

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  12. "the like of which had never been seen before." The most appalling thing about humanity is that we have always managed to create hell on earth. I suspect that Trafalgar fitted that sentence and then Waterloo and since then....how many? But then you know my views on the subject by now I'm sure.

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  13. I wondered what had happened to all the poppies. I know many were sold off individually but I'm glad that so many were kept together to continue to make the point of the original sculpture - that each one represents a life.

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  14. I wondered what had happened to all the poppies. I know many were sold off individually but I'm glad that so many were kept together to continue to make the point of the original sculpture - that each one represents a life.

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